Mechanism for receiving and weighing coins



Nov. 18, 1930. M. WOLNIK MECHANISM FOR RECEIVING AND WEIGHING COINS Filed July 19, 1929 2 Sheets-Sheet l Nov. 18, 1930. M. WOLNIK MECHANISM FOR RECEIVING AND WEIGHING COINS Filed July 19, 1929 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 gill/I IIIII I[III/IIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII IOIIIII1?!fill/IIII/IIIIII/IIIIII IIIIIIIIIIIII/Ii I I g 1 g t? 2-1 \9 5 i z w 9 g I g I 4 IIIIIIIIIIIIIIII/MIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII/IIIIII/IIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII/I/IIIIIIIIII/IIIIIIII/III I INVENTO Max Wolm'k Patented Nov. 18, 1 930 MAX "WOLNIK; or BROOKLYN, New Year;

MECHANISM R R'nonrvrne AN 'wliren me ooIN's,

Application filed Jul 19,

. This invention relatesto gcoin-controlled vending machines and particularly to the means forinsurin'g the operation of the vend-v 111g mechanism only by a predetermined nun 5 b er of 'coinsof the proper denomination. I In any co-pe'nding' application for patent V for coilrcontrolled automatic liquid vending machine, filed May; 22nd, 1928,- Serial No. 279,645, I have shown. coin-controlledmechalllSlll dependentupon the insertion of a vprop- 'er number-of coins of the, proper denomination toroperati'ngthe vending devices; This invention is an'improvemient on, the mecha nism' shown in; said; co-pending application and is: designed particularly, to depend for itsp'roper operation uponthe Weight of the coins, as Well as thesizeand number thereof, so that operation of the =1nachi-ne: by-counterfit coins or'slugs of improper weight or size becomesimpossible... f 7

The various objects ofnyinvention will be clear from the description whichfollows and from the drawings, in-which,

Fig. 1 isa perspective view of'my im proved mechanism," showing the normal or initial positionsof the parts. I y .Fig.i2 is a vertical section and side View of the same, and i 1 Fig. 8 is a perspective View similar to Fig.

v parts after the mechanism has been operated to actua-tethe'vending devices, andbefore the parts ihavebeen returned vtothe initial positions thereof; a; g In that practical embodiment of my invention which I have illustrated way of example, as applied to any vending machine such as forjexample pa machine for-vending liquids, a-suitablevalve-orother member of a Vending mechanlsmas 10 is supported by, means of-a hearing as ll'securedato the casing 12. Said vending member 110;,is prefer.- ably providedwith asuitable projection as 13 arranged to be operateddirectly by the exposed portion of the face of the upperdescribed in my .co-pencling application above-mentioned; The, coin chute orrecep- 1, showing thepositions assumed by the most or other coin held in the; coin recepta cle or chute 14, in a manner'which has been 1929'. Serial m 379,3 5.

,13 is actuated'to deliver the material soldby the machine: For thatpurpose, the upper portionof the chute may beslotted as at 15, to, expose theuppermost coin 16, or other part i ofthe substantially vertical row of coins whereby rearward-"movement of the chute toget-her with said rowcauses the cointo con- 5' tact with the projection 13 and to operate theni'ember 10, provided that thesaid uppermost coin 16'is properly arranged in the chute 1-4:. A supporting bandas 19 is passed about saidchute and is suitably secured to the shaft 17, which isin-turn pivotallymountedrin a suitable bracket 18 secured to the eas- At one-end of the :shaftl'? and outside of the casing 12 is'an operating'crank as 20, se cured to "said shaft and by means of which said shaft may be rotated in either direction. for the; purpose of swingi-ng'the coin chute in the proper direction when desired;

At-the' lower end of the chute 14, a slot as T5 21-is made, into which is'pa'rtly inserted; the

coin supporting 1nen1ber22. Saidmember is preferablylnade wider at the rear end 23 thereof than atthe front end 24, and is secured to the rod or lever member 25.: Said rod 25 together with the coin support 22 are movable vertically relatively to the slot 21, the lever, of which the rod 25 formsa part.

being pivoted to the bar 26 asby means of the ring 27, whereby the rod 25 and' the parts carried thereby at the, right iof the lever as viewed in Fig. 1 may also move forwardly andrearwardlyab'outthe pivot'poi'ntl V The 3 bar 26 is in turn pivoted ,at "its rear Q0 endto be casing 12 as at 283a suitablestop as 29 being provided to limit the downward. movement of the forward end thereof The lever of which said bar 25 is a part, is preferably made in two parts', one part as 30 being hollow for thereception of the other part consisting of the rod 25nd said parts being normally held together by means of a suitable coilv spring 31, whereby the solid I red portion 25 ;of the lever, is yieldably con- 9 34 of the rack 35, which is secured tot-he shaft 17, so that said wedge and there- 7 through the rod may be moved as will b hereinafter described. r

The weight container 32 is connected to the projection 13 preferably by means of a suitable flexible element, such as a string 36 passing over the pulley 37 and secured at oneend thereof to the rod 38 extending from the projection 13, and at the other end: to the ear 39 of the weight container 32. string 36 is normally slack but is made preferably of just sufiicient length to accomplish the ends and to operate as desired.

If desired, a suitable spring may be interposedbetween the ends of the flexible element 36, said spring in that case being of insufiicient strength to affect any movement of the projection 13, except as tension is put on the spring.

It will be understood that in the normal ositions of .the parts after the coins have een inserted into the coin chutes, and as shownin Fig. 1, the string 36 is sufliciently slack to allow the slackness to be taken out and the string tensioned when the crank 20 is rotated in the proper direction. At this time, the lever rod 25 has been depressed by the weight of the coins in the chute such an amount that-the member 22 has been partly or entirely removed from the slot 21.

The member pivoted to the support 52 as at 51 is pulled by the spring 53 rearwardlyso that its edge 54 contacts with the flat front edge 55.01? the wedge 33 and maintains said wedge against rotation, at the same time pushing the rod 25 against a suitable stop as 56 and thereby preventing rearward bodily movement of said rod under the influence of the spring 53.

The member 50 also serves to restore the wedge 33 to its original position after it .has' been moved therefrom, and tends to urge the wedge :into engagement with the teeth '34 of the rack 35; a suitable spring as 65 connected at one end. to the chute 14 below" the band 19 and atits other end, to therear of 'the casing 12, serves to urge the chute toward its initial position wherein the upu per end of said chute is directly underneath the stationary chute secured to the top 66 of the casing (Figs. 2 and The operation of my improved machine is asfollows; r

Coins are dropped by the user into the The chute 60 in the usual manner as from the outside of the casing 12. The coins pass through the chute 60 and into the chute 14. As the coins drop to the bottom of the chute- 14, they rest on the upper edge of the coin support 22 and are arranged in a vertical row within said chute. It will be understood thatlthe weight of each coin depresses the lever rod 25 to a slight extent against the action of the weights in the container 32.

After the predetermined number of coins of predetermineddenomination have been inserted into the chute, the weight of said coins depresses the rod 25 to a certain predetermined extent, said rod swinging clownwardly about its pivot 27 until the wedge 33 is brought opposite certain predetermined teeth of the rack 35, the amount of depression of the rod 25 having been carefully predetermined so that the uppermost coin of the row becomes exposed in the slot 16 ready to operate the vending mechanism 0 the swinging of the chute. v

It will be understood that coins or slugs which are too heavy will depress the rod 25 more than the predetermined amount, and that therefore, no coins will be exposed in the slot 16 in position to operate theprojection 13, and that if the coins are much too heavy, the rod will'be depressedto such an extent that the coins willdrop out of the chute 14 into the coinreceptacle 41. 'If, on the other'hand, the coins are too light in weight, therod 25'will be depressed by the weight of-the coins to an insuflicient extent to allow the uppermost coin to be properly positioned in the slot 16 so that said coin will project out ofsaid slot and will remain partly in the chute 60 and partly in the chute l4, to prevent relative movement of said chutes, and hence preventing operation of the vending mechanism through the projection13,

The balanced lever rod 25 now-having been depressed, and the wedge 33 brought into position for engagement by the rack teeth 34, the crank 20 may be swung rearwardly, wherebytheshaft 17 is rotated and the bottomsof'the chute 14 carried a slight distance over the member 22 toward the end 24 thereof. At the same time, the rack 35 is brought forwardly, the teeth 34 firmly clamping thewedge 33 soon after the beginning of the stroke, and thereby prevents movement of the lever rod 25 relatively to l-.

the rack 35, so' that theparts are locked together and move as a unit after the rack and wedge are clamp-ed.

Toward the end of the stroke,movement of the crank 20 rotates the rod 25 about its axis, the edge of said wedge moving downwardly against the action of the spring 31 and the container 32 audit-s ear moving slightly rearwardly, being allowed to do so by reason of the loose fit of the-ring 27 on the bar 26,

gas

h en in gi h l le k i -th et i ee (3. 3 no h r by s i ten el y .efl'eet A t lewe ed 7 h ehu e am v i erxw gtndly, thenpper end motes ,reermai'dly {and the ceineXpeSed therein strikes the pr jec- -eie 13 end n e the qp et eg mem er e1 perform the vending operatipn. Benwnrd ene eme ei 'ee em iee i e, h e e nt eiee ee ngfie te ingeptheeleekt herei -vp e'de efl by, th .r erwe d m mee the em 59, the ,0' 1ji gin ;l sleek 111 the seei g,e d x rt e i fee Pul epenv h eellte ne v$. feid e etaineL-end (t e 1 19 2 cqnn eete ql thereto, however, e re not ,perie e ee tte mem i rt u to t e le kie the wedge ,hy the teeth 3ft, when the cyan}; ZO-is releasec lQlioyveyer, thespring 5 5 pulls the lewer .end -f the chute/let regrwerfilkv enireWr h erenk the eh 1 th J fe end t wedg 33 (e ge y the member )f .to their initial ;p0sitions as indicated in Fig; 1. Onthe lest pert i the return noyen eljit; thel rek3 5 and thenteeth 3% ther of sudden y eleee th we e, end

ue b th sudden. e eee, end t the \epe e .PLell upon th eenteie yfi? yr as nef h i fierce exerted thereon byithe .tensionpgf the .ee ng 3 th eee iei e 39 ee upward y While the 110d 25 ,drolps dowimva rdlyfl The,

: 'eembe r22 el eeefie i (ee hie me l wnw d yeee fi i e dietenee-t -e le h ein d eP t tLeft e ehe e ie into th .neceptecle Al.

In iseh ng Ween (maybe iee i the 16ml" red 25 l drggping to give the coins ample time to drop out of the zc hlite .ir l n e t ineeieet ee .l vr me inits rea rmest pesition.

- After t e ndi ee hee emxheeb e eP- e edby th pe jee iee L 3 -.ee i eieet e "be eeenee i t eme' ee epeeit ee mene ly eetemet e l y, e zmen e Wbee ne dmt h ishe ese eeer be e eehi h i e ee ly m e feeth n my ee ep ee ie 1 ;plieeti e Qhee ieg 6ietherebyse eke e the e nteine 32i e eee f m it epwe *Pel Se deQ te Q i -th z by r ed e drops, eie egth Wed-ge 33-1 mm h ze i eeppee 12 -te heir i eie pee t ree ys e i e l tlieeee ieedei the. eeener 22150 that the eoinsere treeto drop down the ,tetnrnchnte .61. e

In order to insure the retetion pfythe 130d 25 and the propel lifting, of the lever including the melnbeiiat), the container 32mm the bar 26 on the rearwa pdprotetien pi'l the eijank 2Q, as has been hereinbje fol e fully described, an additional ceinie'qtion ,may be v I na,(lel between the shaft 17 end the 'hgll ow .melnbeiigfl to L iJie e h Jee 'nof th r e en 5 th edg 3- r Th eddi eee m e a ey ek ew hem f a e e l -i r e e l member shaped :likeejerginke'nd secnr edjet one I end to the shaftl'fl' and hnving qneileg thereof :fsuflicient lengthto pass underneath and to cQntact Withthe member30.

' Such anedditionel melnherlse tyes thevpgir- .p 0s e f exerting lifting i iflce hpenl the eighing lever Set ,the end ,qppegite vto that 1,113,011 which similar force isexented thpengh the ifackend Wedge. v V

e's e n rei befee ez ple ed eie which are too light in Weight iemyin lppuitly in the chute and .preyentqperetipn (if ,the ,lnachine. l 7 i l I rd e lege I P efe ehie th lew p fi of the sides of the chute 60 150 the lqen minder of the sides, as by n 1ea n s ,of ,a suitable spring hinge-63 of anygv ell knoyvn type: Saidghixige serves to keep the pertsfiQ inzetheir normal-Q1 eperatiye positions but allows the swinging dp rts ehee ee in e de ate Pe mi ereme e t lighte eewhiel @mey have been inserted into the chute fiq, c It will be vseen that l have ,pioivided a sixnple and efiicient ,I necha ni sm which teen ghe es fu yep et d e y r yeie e the rp epe W h e z edk ee m e ie e t Said me n smQ deP ee terite Peeet en'it vWei ie t i ein ee vel e t n fepe e een'e n mbe tt r e a; end he @my P ved e h nis lie We l adapted. ie th P t-ion ,e ir i the epe etiene enieee yp 'eeedie 'meeh eiemv Wh'le I be) e shown end desc gibede pner ,to allow ,the ce ins i r 'embedimee of 11W inven ion, Y I d n intend {to b :ende fi imiting i pei er -e i he e pee th appended claims.

I aim: e

1- Th m e ie w th e e zehut pi F t e p i ermediat th ends ther f, p e z eedeehere f enth ap ese P ne d ted iet Yee enee te exp v p. ee ee d e ne, eff e mem e e fie vendt me e e e e e re ges zin eh p t f th pp rm st i L 1; e ehete,ee edepte e e pe ee y eidee mbe en-th w ng n of said chute, a lever nea r thephqttqm pf seid Q ete e-eeieeepp rfiie -leem .e ee id lever .e eee ed eree theow ele ref sai ch te, eer e..ieg e-e idaehe e :ie epe eein said vending machine member, and a flexible member connected to said vending machine member and to said lever for swinging said lever after said vending machine member has been operated whereby the coins are discharged from saidchute.

2. In a vending machine, a movable operating member for the vending mechanism thereof, coin-controlled means for operating said member mcluding a pivoted com chute adapted to. allow the passage of coins comating member to said lever for moving said lever into coin dlschargmg positlon.

3. In a coin-controlled mechanism, means for receiving a row of coins and for operating a vending mechanism through the intermediary of said coins, and means cooperatingwith the coin receiving means for normally supporting said row and for discharging the row after the vending mechanism has been oper- -.ated,' said supporting means controlling the operation of said receiving means by automatic adjustment thereof under the weight of said coins.

4. In a coin controlled mechanism, the combination with an operating member of a vending mechanism, of movable coin receiving means, and means controlled by the weight of the coins in said receiving means for positioning the coins in said receiving means in position to engage the operating member on the movement of the coin receiving means together with the coin positioning means.

5. In a coin controlledmechanism, a coin chute, means for swinging said chute for causing the coins therein to operate a. vending mechanism when in proper position in said chute, and means controlled by the weight of the coins forpositioning said coins for operation of said vending mechanism when the coins are of the proper weight.

6. Ina coin controlled mechanism, a coin chute, means for swinging said chute for causing the coins therein to operate a vending mechanism when in proper position in said chute, and means controlled by the weight of the coins for positioning said coins for operation of said vending mechanism when the eoinsare of the proper weight, said means ini eluding a lever, and a swingable member on which said lever is pivoted.

7. In a coin controlled mechanism, means controlled by the weight of the coins inserted into saidmechanism for determining the operative position of the coins comprising a coin-supporting lever, a balancing weight on said lever, and a swingable member to which said lever is pivoted.

8. The method of operating a coin eon- =trolled mechanism consisting of supporting a row of coins while exposing the face of the uppermost coin of the row, moving the row so that the face of the uppermost coin operates a member in its path, and determining vthe position of the row by balancing the weight thereof.

9. In a coin-controlled machine, a pivoted coin chute open at the top and bottom thereof, a pivoted member for normally maintaining'the coins in the chute and arranged near the bottom of said chute, means for supporting said member for allowing predetermined depression thereof under the weight of the coins in said chute, a member arranged in the path of the coins in said chute and adapted to be operated by said coins on the pivotal movement of said chute, and means for re moving said pivoted member from the bottom of said chute after the member in the path of said coins has been operated and after said chute has been returned to its initial position for discharging the coins from said chute.

10. The combination with a chute normally n arranged in upright position and open at both ends thereof, of a member adapted to be operated by the coins in said chute on the swing- ':ing of said chute in one direction, means for supportmg the COlIlS 1n said chute 1n prede- I termlned position for operatmg said member,

open at both ends thereof, a swingable lever arranged under said chute, a coin supporting member on said lever on which the coins 1n saldchute are normally supported, means for normally balanclng sald lever, and means operatively connecting said member to said lever for disturbing the balance of said lever after said'member has been operated for allowing the discharge of thecoins from said chute by gravity.

V 12. Ina coin-controlled mechanism, the combination with an operating member of a vending machine, of a stationary coin chute, a pivoted coin chute normally aligned with said stationary chute and open at the top and bottom thereof, a pivoted lever near the boti ios 7 tom of saidpivoted chute, a coin-supporting chute and being operated by said coins on the swinging of the pivoted chute, and means for operatively connecting said operating member to said lever for swinging said lever to permit the coins in said pivoted chute to be discharged therefrom by gravity.

13. A coin chute'pivoted intermediateof the ends thereof and open-at both ends for the passage of coins therethrough, means for normally supporting coins in said chute, 7

means for locking the coin supporting means in com supporting position for movement with said chute as a unit, and means for removing saidcoin supporting means'from coin supporting position after the operation of said chute. 7

14:. In a coin-controlled mechanism, means controlled by the weight of the coins inserted into said mechanism for operating. the mechanism, comprising a coin chute and a coin-supporting member movable into predetermined operative position by the weight of the coins in said chute, means for locking the member and the chute together, and means for moving the chute and the member as a unit to operate the mechanism.

15. In a coin--controlled mechanism, a movable coin chute, a weighted member for determining the position ofthe coins in said chute, and means for locking the member to the chute for'movement as'a unit 16. In a coin-controlled mechanism, the

combination with an operating member of a vending mechanism, of a coin chute open at the top andbottomthereof, means for swinging the chute for operating said member through the intermediary of the coins therein, and means movable under the weight of said coins for arranging said coins in opera tive position in said chute only when the coins are of the proper weight, and then mov able with the chutelas a unit.

lever and the row of coins as a unit to operate the mechanism, and to: apply stress on one end of thelever in a direction to swing said.

leverafter said mechanism has been'operated by the coins andto thereby release the coins 20. In a coin-controlled mechanism, alever adapted to sustain a row of coins, means for maintaining thelever in coin sustaining position, and meansfor applying stress to one end of the lever in a direction to swing the lever while the lever is incoin sustaining position, said means being effective, to swing the lever to release the coins only after the maintaining means has released the lever.

MAX 'WOLVNIK.

17. In a coin-controlled mechanism, a coin chute, a weighted lever for supporting the coins in said chute in operative position therein only when said coins are ofthe propor weight, and a pivot for supporting said lever for movement in more than one plane.

18 ..The method of operating'a coin-controlled mechanism comprising balancing the weight of a row of coins while maintaining said coins in a substantially vertical row, and swinging the rows of coins against a member in the path of the row to cause one of the coins to operate the member.-

19. In a coin-controlled mechanism, a le ver pivoted for universal movement and serving to arrange a row of coins in position to operate the mechanism, means for moving the 

